http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2009-11-22T23:30:38Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/ http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/6/10025/6327 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/WA_ProsceniumFront.jpg" class="top"></p> <p>Uh oh. Hope you didn&#146;t think the economy&#146;s death grip on the hotel industry had loosened. Seems the bottom has dropped out from under the highly anticipated <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/2/28/115654/768/hotels/The_Waldorf_Astoria_Collection_Keeps_Collecting_Hotels"><strong>Waldorf-Astoria Sarasota</strong></a>.</p> <p>The developers funding the massive project are in an ugly feud, with Gary Moyer suing his former business partner, the &#147;much younger and wealthier&#148; Zeb Portonova, <a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090928/ARTICLE/909281009/2413/BUSINESS?Title=Sarasota-developer-suing-his-former-partner">reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune</a>.</p> <p>Back in early 2008, we reported the announcement for the coming hotel project, which was set to be a 225-room hotel featuring 38,000 square feet of meeting space, signature restaurants, a roof-top pool, and a swank spa. Delivery was expected in late 2010, so the project had sort of fallen off our radar. The Herald KatieK 2009-10-06T10:20:43-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/2/28/115654/768 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/WA_ProsceniumFront.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>On the heels of their recent announcement about the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/2/25/154354/748/hotels/Snapshot_The_Waldorf_Astoria_Collection_s_Dakota_Mountain_Lodge">Dakota Mountain Lodge</a>, the Waldorf-Astoria Collection has announced <i>another</i> brand new property, this time the <b>Waldorf-Astoria Sarasota</b> in Florida at the planned mixed-use, high-end development Proscenium. (Note: It's the building on the left in the rendering above.)<p> <blockquote><p>The 225-room Waldorf=Astoria Sarasota will feature 38,000 square feet of ballroom, meeting and exhibition space, the iconic Peacock Alley&#174; Lounge, signature restaurants, a roof-top pool overlooking downtown Sarasota, and a 12,000-square-foot spa, among other amenities. &nbsp;There will also be 67 Waldorf=Astoria Residences within the 18-story hotel tower.</blockquote></p><p>In case you were wondering, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proscenium">Proscenium</a> is a type of theater space, thus the development (not the hotel) will have a four-screen, independent and juliana 2008-02-28T12:04:16-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/5/8/144718/0002 <![CDATA[<p><img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/good_wifi.jpg"><p>A tipster writes to us about a recent Hotel WiFi experience at one of our Best WiFi Hotels for 2007, a Holiday Inn.<blockquote><p>At a recent stay at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Lakewood+Ranch+Holiday+Inn/local/554"><b>Lakewood Ranch Holiday Inn</b></a> - I have to report one of the best WiFi and Network connections of anywhere I've stayed - the Hotel has near total WiFi coverage - and if you need it each room has an Ethernet Jack.<p>Bandwidth testing shows 6Mbps Up and Down - that is six times faster that the <a href="http://www22.verizon.com/content/consumerfios/about+fiostv/who+wins+fios+vs+cable/who+wins+fios+vs+cable.htm">Verizon Fiber FiOS</a> product - I'd like to know how they did that. Oh and it's "Free."</blockquote></p><p>Apparently, the Verizon Fiber FiOS product is a high-speed fiber-optic internet service. This can get complicated to juliana 2007-05-08T14:55:38-05:00 27.387665 -82.443805 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/5/16/0155/46226 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/hyattpool.jpg"> <p> <b>[Publisher's note: Longtime hotel maven <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/user/dzot/stories">dzot</a> explains why Polynesia and Sarasota Florida are everything alike and nothing alike, all at once. Enjoy.]</b> <p> A few years back, the <a href="http://sarasota.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp"><b>Hyatt Sarasota</b></a> was the king of the hotel jungle in Sarasota, FL. Forego the Hyatt, and your only decent spots in town were Hilton Garden Inns and Courtyard Marriotts and the like. The Hyatt was the Alpha Male, and if you could snag yourself a water view room, you had a beautiful view of sunset over Sarasota Bay from your balcony.<p> Then, just like on the African veldt, a wandering rogue appeared in the distance. The threat was obvious; his reputation preceded him. &nbsp;He was bigger, stronger dzot 2006-05-16T10:02:25-05:00 27.341266 -82.548720 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/